


It's a beautiful day, no?

by GeekMom13



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Groundhog Day, Happy Ending, I consider it mild, M/M, So much temporary death, Some Gore Mentioned, Soulmates, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, Vicchan Lives, You might not, basically everyone dies at least once, but people temporarily die, everything else is canon, often in comical ways, yuuri remembers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 08:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15069002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekMom13/pseuds/GeekMom13
Summary: Everyone knows that when you find your soulmate you get stuck in a time loop until fate decides you won't screw it all up.It's just Yuuri's luck that he's stuck looping during the biggest competition so far in his career.





	It's a beautiful day, no?

**Author's Note:**

> Idea for this fic came from [scribblingsky](http://scribblingsky.tumblr.com) who also did amazing artwork.  
> [The beautiful artwork!](http://scribblingsky.tumblr.com/post/175305577768/this-is-my-artwork-for-yurionicebigbang-my)

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri groaned. He was getting _really_ tired of hearing that. It had been a week already. And he had only managed to get through a single day- it seemed that his soulmate was either really accident prone or he just sucked at keeping them safe.

Which, considering the fact that Yuuri still had no clue who the hell it was, was probably an accurate statement.

The first day, they were all on a bus to the rink when it was hit by a truck. Yuuri chalked it up to a bad dream until that _exact_ bus pulled in front of the hotel.

And he sat down in the same ripped seat.

And Cao Bin turned to him and pointed out the same stain on his team Japan jacket.

Yuuri puked.

They had to evacuate the bus and take cabs over- but the truck from his dream was on the news and there was a moment of silence before the competition for the lives lost. Christophe joked about Yuuri’s fortune-telling stomach saving them all.

Unfortunately, his stomach didn’t see the bad chicken salad, that landed most of the skaters in the hospital, coming. He passed out at the hospital before he could even ask who was affected and woke up in his hotel room.

You can’t exactly google deaths in an alternate timeline (he tried). He had made four calls to various people so far and crossed his fingers that he could make it through the practice day and hopefully find his soulmate.

 _That_ he had discovered yesterday. If you can count it as yesterday? Maybe he should count it as Wednesday number 6.

He now knew that he was caught in this loop until he found his soulmate, protected and _connected_ with them. There were debates on what exactly that meant, but most seemed to think that a kiss would do.

He had also sat down and mapped out the few things that had happened. So far, he had figured out it was one of the competitors or their coaches. Most of the Juniors had already been eliminated (by staying alive), none of the coaches and none of the senior men.

He managed to navigate the day and keep everyone safe through the day and got a few looks from Celestino as he ranted on about how much of a death trap zambonis were and how they needed a better solution for smooth ice.

He placed his glasses on the table and, once more, placed his competitor’s badge on his pillow- hoping it would be there in the morning.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri took a deep breath and felt for the pass, sagging into the mattress as his fingers skimmed the cheap plastic.

“Yuuri, I know you hate press, so you need to get up before too many gather.”

“Yeah, I… I’ll be ready soon.”

And he stepped in the shower.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

“What?”

“Yuuri, I know you hate press, so you need to get up before too many gather.”

“I… yeah.”

Yuuri shook his head. How did his soulmate die at eight in the morning? He figured it didn’t matter too much as he made it through his shower successfully this time. They got into an elevator…

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

_Fuck._

Well, now he knew it was down to Jean-Jacques, Christophe, his coach Josef, Yuri Plisetsky, Viktor, their coach Yakov and Celestino.

He just stared at the suit hanging in the closet, trying to figure out how to get around _this_ disaster without looking too strange. He was already the odd competitor who pulled strings with a sponsor to get different transportation, sneezed all over the food, and demanded the zamboni be used only when they were all clear of the room.

And now he was the competitor who goaded the Junior skater into taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The building shook as the elevator car fell on its next trip. He would evaluate his life choices later, but for now… he was just glad to see the _empty_ elevator with its broken sign plastered over it.

They headed to the press room and tried to avoid the dust in the main room.

Jean-Jacques stopped him, “Katsuki?”

“Yeah?”

“You knew that would happen didn’t you?”

Yuuri pursed his lips and looked over the Canadian.

“I mean… you’re looping aren’t you?”

Yuuri nodded.

“I’m sorry, man… I did for about a month with Isabella.”

Yuuri took a deep breath looking at the floor, “It’s already been a week.”

“The zamboni-”

“Was disgusting.”

JJ cringed, “I bet.”

Yuuri was quiet as they made their way to the next hallway, “Well, that knocks you out of it.”

“Who else is left?”

Yuuri pointed ahead.

“All of them?”

A small nod, “Well, not your parents. But everyone else.”

“Doing better than I was my first week. I had the _entire_ local chapter of the JJgirls that just-” he shuddered.

Yuuri nodded.

“If you repeat this, tomorrow just… Just tell me right away, I’ll help.”

“What? Just walk up to you and say _if you get on that elevator we’re all going to die_? Yeah, that’ll go over well.”

JJ laughed and tossed an arm around Yuuri’s shoulders, “Nah, just tell me it’s a soulmate thing and you know the elevator’s a bad idea, I’ll help you pull stunts to keep everyone safe.”

“Thanks.”

They walked through the doors and Yuuri was knocked to the ground, feeling a pain in his stomach and then there was shouting around him.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

“Uh huh. Let’s head out.”

Celestino smiled and headed back to his own room. Yuuri got ready and stood outside of his room waiting for JJ to walk up- he was greeted with the overbearing, obviously forced smile of his competitor.

“Jean-Jacques?”

He paused and both his parents looked suspiciously at Yuuri as he gently bowed in their direction and looked back to JJ, “I need to talk to you,” he stepped closer, “about soulmates.”

“OH! Okay. Uh, Mom Dad, I’ll catch you downstairs-”

Yuuri whispered in his ear, “Not the elevator.”

JJ nodded and helped Yuuri corral everyone onto the stairs without much effort, simply dragging them into a conversation and walking over to the stairs. Well, looks like Yuuri had some things to learn.

He hung back after holding open the door and once again slung an arm around Yuuri, “So…”

“I don’t know who it is yet.”

JJ nodded, the building shook and JJ looked over to Yuuri like they had some big secret between them- which, technically was true.

This time when they got to the door, Yuuri paused and looked both ways, watching as someone rushed past with a bin full of dishes- a knife sticking out of the edge.

They managed to make it through their practices and a few meetings, JJ helping him keep an eye out for danger without being too obvious- or so he thought.

The last thing he remembered was JJ greeting a fan and her yelling about Isabella, and then-

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

It was official-they had the _worst_ luck of any soulmates out there. He waved off Celestino and guided himself through the day- talk to JJ, warn him about the fan and the elevator, avoid the clumsy busboy. He could still feel where that knife went into his side.

He watched as the Russian coach took his two charges out the door, the ice falling from the building blacking out his vision once more.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Well- now it was down to three. Hopefully only two. He was now on Thursday number 6 and he hadn’t even gotten to compete yet. He tossed on his warm-up gear and made sure his costume was ready for later, meeting JJ in the hallway.

“Hey JJ.”

“Hey, Katsuki,” JJ flung an arm around his shoulder like he did every morning now- Yuuri would text him about the loop and they’d head off together.

“Please don’t. Your fangirls don’t like you being so close with someone who isn’t Isabella.”

JJ raised his eyebrow and pulled out his phone- snapping the same photo he had the day before, smiling as Yuuri helped him complete the JJ hand sign.

He posted it with the same caption- _Met up with an old friend #Sochi #GPF #JJStyle_

“There. Now Izzy will comment on it and they will know.”

“Does she remember?”

“Well, I mean, she keeps an eye on all my competitors so-”

“No, no,” Yuuri cut off the rest of the statement, “Does she remember the loops?”

“OH! No. Only I remember it. Same with my Mom- She remembers but Dad doesn’t.”

“Good. I’m not doing so good. I haven’t even figured it out and I’m…” he paused as he counted, “Almost two weeks in.”

“Who’s it down to?”

“Yuri Plisetsky-”

“The one that’s probably going to get Junior gold?”

Yuuri nodded, “Yakov, his coach-”

JJ hummed, “I’ll ask Mom about him. Anyone else?”

Yuuri took a deep breath, “Yeah, but… it’s not likely.”

“Yuuri, have you figured out _why_ someone would be chosen as the one to loop yet?”

Yuuri pulled out his phone but JJ stopped him, “Christophe is better at explaining it… ask him.”

JJ guided them through the halls as Yuuri kept a close eye on the Russians. Once they got past the press maze and through the fans, he finally relaxed. Yuuri started stretching in the hallway, listening to the song Phichit sent him off with- a goofy tradition his younger friend had started when they first roomed together.

Whenever one was headed off to competition without the other, they would pick a theme song for the weekend. The first one Phichit had sent him with was some strange hamster song, Yuuri had retaliated with Crazy Frog and it just continued from there.

This time it was “The Internet is for Porn.”

Yuuri was folded in half, hands flat on the floor in front of his feet, head resting on his knees as he flexed and relaxed his feet.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and took out the one earbud, “I’m almost done Celestino, then you can-”

“Yuuri, I brought Christophe!”

“Oh, he knows?”

JJ blushed, “I- I didn’t know it was-”

Yuuri waved his hand before placing it back on the ground and slowly rolling back up and spreading almost into a split and leaning over to his left foot, holding up his right hand for Christophe to shake.

“So, you’ve been looping?”

Yuuri nodded, taking a breath and relaxing into his stretch, “almost two weeks now. I almost have who it is figured out.”

Christophe hummed and sat in front of Yuuri, mirroring his stretches. “So what do you know so far?”

“Um, well, it’s down to Yuri Pli-”

“No, not the who. The what. What have you learned about looping cheri?”

“Oh… well, I know its a soulmate thing. And that I’ll loop until we connect.”

“They didn’t teach you more in classes?” Christophe looked appalled, “what kind of school did you _attend_? They didn’t cover this?”

“Well, I was in the JSF from thirteen on… I got pulled before we hit health and the tutors assumed it had already been dealt with. Everyone else nodded so…”

Christophe took a deep breath, muttering something before looking Yuuri in the eye, “So. The basics. The loop is created when the universe feels you’re about to mess up the course of your bond with your soulmate.”

Yuuri nodded, the website had covered that.

“The loop ends when the universe feels the mistake is repaired. And the deaths are almost always temporary. Occasionally, it is just a person’s time to go.”

JJ had joined them on the floor, “You’ll always start over from when you wake up.”

Yuuri snorted- he was _well aware_ of that part, he had never hated Celestino’s daily greeting quite this much before.

Christophe reached out, “Yuuri, do you know why some loops are really short and some last months?”

“No, I fell asleep before I hit that part and- well, I’ve been busy. My soulmate is accident prone.”

Christophe and JJ both gave him a sad smile, “Yuuri… The loop doesn’t work that way. It’s more… ” he mumbled something out in French.

“Emotional?” JJ offered.

Christophe hummed, “I suppose that’s a good way to see it. Yuuri, you aren’t looping because your soulmate has bad luck, or because one of you is a klutz. And really, it doesn’t matter if one of you is around danger more often.”

“ _Everything_ is dangerous,” Yuuri muttered.

JJ chuckled, remembering a few of his own loops.

Christophe tapped his fingers on his thigh and took a breath, “You were chosen to loop because you were the one who wouldn’t believe.”

“What?” Yuuri almost yelled, curling his shoulders a bit when Michele glared at him from down the hall. “I believe in soulmates.”

“Well, everyone does… but not everyone believes _who_ their mate is.”

“Oh, but… JJ, you said _you_ looped.”

JJ smiled, “Yeah. Think about it. A fan you’ve seen at a bunch of your events shows up and says _I’m your soulmate_ , what would you think?”

Yuuri nodded. He wouldn’t really know- he was pretty sure he didn’t have fans, but it made sense.

JJ cleared his throat and gave Christophe a look.

“Fine… Yuuri. You should know something else. When I said that it had nothing to do with how cautious you are…”

“Yes?”

“It’s because, well, it’s _your_ confidence. Until you think you deserve your mate… You…” he looked off to the side, sad. “You won’t stop looping. You’ll just go through life slowly, watching them die over and over, _and over_.”

JJ gently placed a hand on Christophe’s shoulder, “It’s over now though Chris…”

Christophe nodded and Yuuri decided not to ask, focusing on the stretches. He was trying to figure out who would be more likely to be his mate. He couldn’t see either of the skaters being stuck with him-

JJ broke him out of his thoughts, “Yuuri, Christophe is the one I talk to because, well, he was stuck looping for… well, a very long time. He saw-”

“A _specialist_. Yuuri, when you figure it out, _believe them._ Please, cheri, _believe in fate_.”

Yuuri thought it over as they started to file in for practice. And over the next few loops, he discovered more about Christophe- and he seemed to understand when Yuuri just jumped in like they had been friends for forever when Christophe couldn’t remember talking to him since they were both Juniors.

Yuuri learned how he still had nightmares about holding Masumi in his arms as he died and him never looping back to save him. Or how he dated Masumi as they were looping, trying to follow the specialist’s instructions. (JJ had warned him not to make a _50 First Dates_ joke like he had.) JJ had shared a few of his more traumatic loops when Yuuri needed to be distracted from his own issues.

By the time he managed to make it through the whole day, he knew that it was either Yuri or Viktor.

He wasn’t sure which was harder to believe.

But he was pretty sure neither deserved to be stuck with him.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri mumbled something remotely like _good morning_.

“Free day today, I’ll be out-”

“I know. I’ll be fine. I’ll call if I need something.”

He met up with JJ and Christophe for breakfast and watched as Viktor Nikiforov, four-time senior gold medalist, went to hail a cab and slipped and fell on the icy sidewalk outside.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

“No.”

“Yuuri?”

“No. No, no. No… No.”

“Yuuri? Are you okay?”

“No. I can’t be… no.”

Yuuri got up and started to head to JJ. No, Christophe. Christophe would know a better explanation. Because there’s no way that Viktor Nikiforov _died from falling on a patch of ice on the sidewalk_.

Celestino was following Yuuri down the hall as he knocked on Christophe’s door, still in his pajamas muttering _no_ repeatedly.

Christophe opened the door and smiled, “Morning Yuuri-”

“How likely is it for two people to die at the same time in two different places?”

“Cheri, you promised to at least try to believe in fate.”

“Christophe.”

“It’s not likely. Whoever died alone yesterday-”

“Viktor. Viktor Nikiforov.”

“Yuuri. You have to know, deep down, that if Viktor died- it’s Viktor. Your soulmate is-”

“It _can’t be Christophe!_ You don’t get it. This is Viktor. And I’m...me.”

“So?”

“I’m _me_. I’m just another dime a dozen figure skater-”

“Oh really? Cheri, if that’s true, then the rest of us- JJ, Michele, me, Cao, Viktor… We’re worth half that combined.”

“No!”

“Yuuri. You’re a finalist. You _earned_ your way here.”

“I just got lucky.” Yuuri was looking down at his feet.

“Probably true of all of us.” Christophe reached out and pulled Yuuri into a hug. “Remember, fate will just keeping going until _this_ stops. You need to see that you’re good enough.”

Yuuri nodded, “I’ll try.”

“Good. Now you go with your coach, get dressed and we’ll grab breakfast together. I’ll let JJ know we’re running late and get a plan together. So far- no sidewalks allowed.”

Yuuri snorted and turned back to Celestino who was still looking confused. They walked back to his room in silence.

As Yuuri was preparing to open his door, Celestino stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, “Yuuri, will you be okay if I go catch up with Josef today? You seem… off.”

“Oh. I’ll be fine.”

Celestino raised an eyebrow, “You say that every time you hide your anxiety.”

“It’s not that. I just…” Yuuri looked down to the lock, “I know who my soulmate is now.”

“Oh, Yuuri, that’s wonderful.”

“I guess. It’s just-” he rested his forehead against the door.

“It’s Viktor.”

“Yeah.”

Celestino just stood there, rubbing his thumb along Yuuri’s shoulder, “Fate will always work things out Yuuri.”

“I guess.”

“Think about it Yuuri. Why are _you_ looping?” He pat Yuuri’s shoulder one last time before walking away.

Yuuri took a few deep breaths before walking into his room- Celestino’s words echoing in his head, Christophe’s explanations responding.

 _“Why are_ you _looping?”_

_“You were chosen to loop because you were the one who wouldn’t believe.”_

He shook off what that meant and got dressed quickly so he didn’t make JJ and Christophe too late for the plans for today. He was ready to text Christophe when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it up, “Oh hey, I was just about to-”

And then he saw who it was.

JJ was smiling as Viktor and Christophe were looking through their phones and talking.

Viktor Nikiforov was standing at his hotel room.

His soulmate.

Who was even more gorgeous in person.

And Yuuri hadn’t even attempted to fix his hair.

Or the stain on his jacket.

Yuuri slammed the door and sunk to the floor- this was not going to be the first impression he was going to make on Viktor.

“Yuuri?” JJ was calling through the door.

“I-” Yuuri realized he was breathing hard. He tried to calm his breaths but… Viktor could hear him, he could hear the pathetic state of his soulmate. Oh, Viktor would never accept someone like him, what was the universe thinking? He’ll take one look and ask the universe for a redo-

“Yuuri, can you let me in?”

Yuuri shook his head.

There was a pause, “Yuuri?”

Oh, right… JJ was on the other side of the door, where he can’t see. “No.”

“Yuuri. Christophe and… they’ll head down and get us a table, let me in.”

Yuuri took another deep breath, “okay.”

He waited until the footsteps faded and then opened the door, watching as Yuri Plisetsky pushed past JJ and muttered something under his breath before catching Yuuri’s eye.

“What are _you_ looking at?”

Yuuri shook his head and watched as JJ tugged on Yuri’s arm and whispered something to him, watching the younger skater turn to glare at JJ. “Fine. But the old man doesn’t know I helped.”

JJ smiled and pulled Yuri behind him into the room, “Would he even believe us if we told? Plus, you probably won’t remember helping us anyway.”

Yuri let out a grunt and followed behind. They spent the next ten minutes trying to calm Yuuri and get him presentable enough to not have another anxiety attack when he saw Viktor.

On the way to the stairs, Yuri looked over at him, “You know, he’s not perfect.”

“Well of course I do.”

“No. You don’t. You don’t see the Viktor I get to see. The only thing he actually remembers is that dog of his and skating. Everything else, he has to set alarms for. He tries, but he’s always in his head. Overthinking everything and suddenly its three hours later and he’s still trying to redecorate his entire apartment or redo his entire choreography.”

Yuuri nodded.

“He isn’t what the media shows. He has a temper and doesn’t take jokes very well unless its a stranger or someone he really trusts.”

JJ was smiling as he opened the door to the stairs for the three of them.

“He is _horrible_ with crying people unless they tell him exactly what to do- he’s good with directions. And he doesn’t always think through how insulting things come off. Most of his nicknames are a little mean- but he’d never purposely hurt someone.”

“Thanks, Yuri.”

Yuri nodded and put back on his usual scowl as they headed into the lobby- ducking behind JJ when he spotted a few of his fans.

They made it halfway through breakfast before Viktor choked on a sausage.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri groaned and flopped onto his pillow.

“Free day today, I’ll be out-”

“With Josef. Yeah.”

“Okay, keep loose and if you start to get too anxious, call.”

Yuuri waved his hand in the air and Celestino headed off. He texted JJ and Christophe and started to get ready. He was brushing his hair thinking about the loop and everything Yuri had told him the day before, and then Celestino’s voice echoed in his head again- why are _you_ the one looping?

He blinked at himself in the mirror. Why _would_ Viktor believe him?

He was obviously a fan- his skating style made that apparent. He had boring brown eyes and hair that probably was overdue for a trim. His cheeks were always a little chubby even at his competition weight. He couldn’t make it through a single event without help from Phichit… and he really needed to stop this. Christophe warned him about this.

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths and finished getting ready, heading out a little late- but not terrible. When he joined them, Christophe had pulled both Yuri and Viktor to the table as well.

They made it through breakfast without trouble and headed out- Yuri leaving with Yakov after making sure Viktor had an alarm set to come and see his free skate.

They had the morning free and Yuuri was determined to not let Viktor die as they went to the gym to get in a quick workout.

For lunch, they separated and Yuuri tried to not let it show that he was worried about Viktor heading off for a lunch with sponsors. Halfway through lunch, he got a call.

_“Mari-nee-chan, I don’t compete until tomorrow.”_

_“I know, Yuuri, I’m so sorry.”_

_“What?”_

_“It’s Vicchan- he…”_

_“Mari?”_

_“Yuuri, Vicchan is gone. He swam too far in and I couldn’t… I didn’t get to him in time.”_

_“What?”_

_“I’m so sorry Yuuri.”_

He hung up and looked down at his screen- Vicchan was smiling up at him, tongue lolling out to the side as he splashed through the waves and then the screen faded to his lock screen- Vicchan in his arms as a puppy. He didn’t even get to say goodbye.

“Yuuri? What’s wrong?” JJ pulled his attention

“My dog… he’s... he’s gone.”

JJ and Christophe’s faces both fell.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri groaned and flopped onto his pillow.

“Free day today, I’ll be out-”

“With Josef. Yeah.”

“Okay, keep loose and if you start to get too anxious, call.”

Yuuri curled up and looked at the photo of Vicchan on his phone and started crying again. He ignored the text from Christophe and dragged himself out of bed. He was halfway through brushing his teeth when he realized he could change that.

He just needed to call and tell them not to walk Vicchan on the beach today!

He grabbed his phone and dialed Mari- it was probably after their lunch rush already. Mari was confused but agreed to keep Vicchan off the beach this weekend. He was smiling as he headed off to breakfast.

The day went on normally until right before everyone was leaving for the rink to the junior men.

Yuuri noticed the car swerving on the road and grabbed Viktor’s wrist and pulled him away from the street.

“Yuuri? What… What are you doing?”

“I’ll explain later. Right now, you need to _run_ Viktor.”

Viktor was stumbling along behind Yuuri, completely confused. They passed by JJ and a cat-calling Christophe. Yuuri didn’t stop until they heard a crash, “Viktor. You are my soulmate. I’ve watched you die,” he looked up at the ceiling, trying to count all the deaths since Wednesday, muttering through them-

“Wait, did you just say _zamboni?”_

Yuuri looked at him with a blank face, “Yes. The operator lost control and the entire senior men's bracket _and_ their coaches were crushed. I got to see the ice as the zamboni slammed the last of you into the wall. Point being- you have died too many times to count already- one time I’m pretty sure you fell in the shower.”

“Oh.”

“Oh? That’s it? That’s _all you have to say?_ After what I just told you? Just OH?”

Viktor looked baffled, “Yes?”

“You’re lucky you’re cute because that’s the only thing saving you right now!”

Yuuri stormed away and heard shouts behind him.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri groaned and flopped onto his pillow.

“Free day today, I’ll be out-”

“With Josef. Yeah.”

“Okay, keep loose and if you start to get too anxious, call.”

Yuuri called Mari and got the same agreement from her and headed off to start his day- making a mental checklist of what to watch out for today. In the back of his mind he thought about Yuri saying Viktor needed alarms for everything- maybe they had some things that would work well with each other.

As the day progressed, he talked more with his two new friends and wished Yuri luck before his skate- which lead to a suspicious look from the younger skater.

Yuri took gold for the Juniors and looked bored as the medals were awarded. Viktor was talking to everyone about how Yuri was planning to move up next year and how his attitude would hopefully change.

They headed to dinner together and Yuuri was happy when he made it back to the hotel and into bed without another death. Today had been better than the rest of the competition- maybe it meant he had fixed whatever was going to ruin his chances with Viktor.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

Yuuri looked at Celestino. Well, maybe glared would be more accurate. He had been wrong- very, _very_ wrong. He wasn’t exactly sure why but he had now done his free skate over twenty times.

He was sick of the music.

He was sick of blood.

He was sick of time loops.

The universe was _wrong_ and he knew it. There was no way that Viktor was his soulmate. Not with the way he skates.

He tossed together his costume and headed out the door _again_. To watch Viktor die. _Again._ The universe was one giant game of dumb ways to die today.

He had seen it all- electrocution, stabbing, beheading, tripping on a toe pick and breaking his neck, trapped in a fire, shooting, hanging, wardrobe malfunction causing strangulation, death taser gun… and the list goes on and on and on. Between the two of them, Yuuri had seen almost a hundred deaths since Wednesday.

Christophe cornered him as he walked to meet Celestino, “Cheri, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I just…” Yuuri wiped away a tear as Yuri walked up, “I’m so sick of watching him die and I’m so sick of dying. Yesterday was so easy!”

“What changed?”

“I don’t know! If I could figure that out I’d be drinking champagne and figuring out my retirement Chris!”

Yuri spoke up, “Good, I don’t think we need two Yuris in the same bracket, loser.”

Yuuri started crying even more as Christophe swatted the younger skater, “Not helpful!”

“I wasn’t trying to be helpful. Less competition is a good thing, old man.”

Christophe rolled his eyes and muttered about spoiled teens.

Yuri’s tone softened, “But listen Katsuki, you need to tell him. That should fix it. Just tell him and he’ll be happy and you two losers can get married and horde dogs and leave the skating to me-” He had a smirk on his face, “You’re getting old too you know.”

Yuuri laughed at that. Over the last few dozen loops, he had discovered that Yuri was still in the “angry teen” phase and insults were his primary way of cheering people up.

“I already did that though, on Friday.”

“Oh. Well, try again.”

Christophe shrugged, “you should. Masumi’s reaction helped me a lot.”

“Last time, he said _oh._ That was it.”

Yuri snorted.

“Sounds like him. We’ll all talk together before the skate today, okay?”

Yuuri nodded and let Christophe pull him into a hug. When they all met for a small breakfast, Christophe squeezed his knee to offer support.

“Um, Viktor?”

Viktor offered a smile, “Yes, Yuuri?”

“I, uh…” He took a deep breath and glanced at Yuri who was rolling his eyes and sticking his tongue out, “I’m your soulmate.”

“OH!” The smile grew.

Yuuri looked at JJ and Christophe and just motioned to Viktor like _do you see what I mean? How am I supposed to take that?_

“Viktor, how do you feel about that?” Christophe asked.

Yuuri looked over and Viktor had a smile he recognizes from every single picture he has ever seen of the man with Makkachin- blindingly bright and absolutely adorable.

“My soulmate is a skater!”

Yuuri laughed, Christophe grumbled.

Viktor reached across the table, knocking over three drinks but not caring, “Tell me all about you!”

Christophe squeezed his knee one last time and Yuuri was pulled out of his chair by a very excited Viktor.

“Oh, uh. I’m boring. There’s not much to me beyond being a skater from Japan.”

Viktor gave a look like he didn’t believe Yuuri, “Well then. Twenty questions! First. What’s your favorite color?”

Yuuri got dragged all the way to Viktor’s room answering questions you’d find in a teen magazine interview (and he’s pretty sure he’s read Viktor’s answers to all of them.) When they reached Viktor’s room, he didn’t hesitate to pull Yuuri in and was a little surprised when Yuuri stayed put outside.

“Yuuri?”

“Viktor… I’m not… I mean… Eventually, yeah… but…”

Viktor’s eyes shot open, “NO! Oh Yuuri, no. I just need to grab my things and do my hair, then we’ll go grab your stuff… I didn’t mean…”

Yuuri started to laugh and followed him in, sitting on the chair in the room. Viktor kept asking questions from the bathroom as he made sure his hair would stay in place and changed into his warm-ups. With a final sweep of the room and tossing two bags over his shoulder, he was grabbing Yuuri’s hand again and was dragging them out the door.

Yuuri squeaked out, “You don’t have to keep holding my hand you know.”

“Yuuri, I’ve waited _so long_ to finally meet you I’m not letting you go now!”

Yuuri blushed and Viktor beamed at the reaction.

“Yuri, little Yuri that is. We’ll need to find him a nickname soon so we don’t confuse you two.”

Yuuri nodded and guided Viktor to his room, hopefully, he left it in good order, but really, today’s loops have been hell and he can’t remember if he threw things this time through.

“He has been saying since he hit eleven that I’m too old for a soulmate.”

Yuuri tried to listen to the rest, but he was distracted trying to sneak a peek at his room before Viktor came in. He directed Viktor to the (luckily) clean couch and headed to grab all his things and go into the bathroom. He sat on the toilet for a bit, taking a few deep breaths.

He knew Viktor was excited, but this was not helping his anxiety. Even if it had only been a few _calendar_ days, he had been stuck for almost two months now. Two months full of death and anxiety attacks. His body was exhausted, his mind was exhausted.

But as he listened to the happy tone coming from the other side of the door, Yuuri knew it was worth skipping his normal pre-skate routine. He quickly got ready and headed back to Viktor.

Viktor kept up his constant stream of conversation the whole way to the rink, where Yakov yelled at them and made Viktor stretch and practice alone (despite a very convincing pout from Viktor). Yuuri put in his headphones and tried to get calmed down as he stretched out, but there was a tension set deep in his body that wasn’t going away.

By the time he hit the ice, Celestino was worried. Normally Yuuri would be a little looser but he was moving like all his joints were wrapped. He tried to calm his skater but everything just made him tense up more, so he just grabbed the guards and figured they would find a calm place after warm-ups.

Yuuri ended up spending more time on his butt than on his skates. It was like he had put on new blades and wasn’t used to them yet.

Celestino found him an empty room and tried to help him calm down with the small window of solitude he had left, but he didn’t have much hope- he hadn’t seen his skater this tense since he first moved to Detroit.

Yuuri was glad his coach made the effort, but as he took his starting pose he knew it wasn’t going to go well.

He tried but his body had nothing left to give. All he could do was try to not disappoint the JFS by stopping before the end. He still went for every jump, even if they all ended with him hitting the ice. As Phichit once told him, fall down eight times, get up nine.

He had to alter his end pose because his shoulder hurt too much from his last impact, but he ended on time and as embarrassing as it felt, he just prayed this was the last time. If he had to do it again, he would pop every jump. The loops kept him alive and looking the same, but he could always feel the ghosts of the injuries from the days before.

From what Viktor said, it was only him luckily. Yuuri _really_ didn’t want anyone to feel the ghost of the zamboni accident.

He skated off the ice and Celestino just grimaced at him. There wasn’t much to say at this point. He watched as his total score put him in first- 232.59. He knew it wouldn’t last. _Everyone_ knew that.

Viktor reached out as he walked past but Yuuri just shook his head. He needed time to just relax and pretend he wouldn’t have to explain that to his sponsors.

Once he was officially off the podium and not invited to perform at the exhibition, Celestino brought him back to the room and helped him pack all the skating things for travel. Yuuri ended up sending him off to apologize to Viktor and calling it an early night.

"Ciao Ciao Yuuri, it's a beautiful day, no?"

“Morning,” Yuuri responded as he slowly made his way to the bathroom.

“We have a little press today, just Morooka, and then I have you scheduled for lunch with your two big sponsors since they have an early flight back. Viktor wanted to tag along but I told him he had to ask Yakov and you first. You know they always hint about you bringing along someone special-”

“Yeah, okay, sounds good.”

Yuuri sat up and felt like he had been bruised head to toe, but his skin was back to its normal. A few bruises on his feet from training but somehow nothing on his hips and shoulders- but a quick press made it _very clear_ that the damage was done. He had hit the ice repeatedly and that’s how his first grand prix final ended. Last place by a huge amount.

There was a commotion outside and he could hear Celestino talking with someone and pretty soon he could hear Viktor.

“Yuu-ri I brought you breakfast! And pills. Are you okay? Your coach said-”

Yuuri cut him off by opening the door. He made sure his shirt was tugged down to hide the lack of bruises, “Thanks. I’ll start with the medicine.”

The three of them sat and talked until Yakov called Viktor for practice, he left with a promise from Yuuri to watch his exhibition and then head to a late lunch after. Yuuri went on autopilot for the rest of the day, letting Viktor grab his hand and lie to the sponsors (Viktor had explained the soulmate looping and talked up his skating skills far more than Yuuri would normally agree to) and then they were shuffled off to their rooms to get ready for the celebration.

When Yuuri got into the tent, he headed right for the champagne. There was only so much that tylenol could do to numb the pains he was feeling.

Viktor showed up right around Yuuri’s fourth glass.

Shortly after Yuuri was challenging little Yuri to a dance-off, declaring the winner was allowed to keep the name and the loser would go by a nickname. After, he declared it was Yuuri-1, Yuri-0. And so Viktor decided he’d be Yurio from that point on.

Yuri sulked the rest of the night.

Yuuri continued to drink and dance, taking to the pole with Christophe and leading Viktor in a few dances.

Then, he started acting _really_ embarrassing and shortly after that, Celestino led him back to the room to chug water and sleep.

Yuuri woke up the next morning to a note from Celestino instead of the normal greeting. His head hurt and he _really_ didn’t want to remember all the flashes that were coming back to him.

He had basically rubbed himself all over Viktor and begged him to be his new coach.

He texted Viktor and suggested they meet up for lunch and decided to pretend he forgot all of last night and hope Viktor spared him.

He peeled off what was left of his suit and took a quick shower before he met Viktor.

They had a peaceful lunch but when the topic of the night before came up and he said he didn’t remember, Viktor looked hurt and then stood up fast- pulling out his phone and talking fast in a language Yuuri could only catch a couple words of.

He tried to stop Viktor as he rushed out of the restaurant the wrong way- directly into the kitchen.

Yuuri woke up to Celestino sneaking out the door, feeling much better than before- no more hangover.

He texted Viktor again and set up the same lunch, trying to work through the things he had heard, but his Russian was crap so he only got “cancel” and “forgot”. Add that to the “Love you” he had figured out the last loop and… then he remembered.

As he was grinding against Viktor, he had said he was halfway in love with him and had been since he was 12. Yuuri buried his face in his hands and groaned.

Pretending to forget was _not_ an option. He couldn’t do that to Viktor.

So he cleaned up and headed out to lunch- ready to apologize and hope Viktor didn’t decide to call off giving him a chance. Sure, Viktor had mentioned waiting- but there were plenty of people out there who lost their soulmates that Viktor could choose over him. Probably should after that embarrassing display.

Yuuri shook his head and put on a fake smile.

If Viktor was going to leave, he wouldn’t blame him or make him stay.

He looked over his outfit one last time before pushing open the door to the lobby- glancing over at the still-broken elevator.

“Yuu-ri!”

He smiled, the way Viktor almost sang his name was something he would miss, even though he barely had it for a few days.

“Viktor, shall we head out?”

Viktor offered his arm and they were on their way. Yuuri found out that Viktor’s panicked phone call the day before was him telling his Mother not to come and meet them because he didn’t want to overwhelm Yuuri.

She was a lovely woman, and Yuuri was sad he had to leave after their long lunch. Viktor saw him off to the airport and shyly asked for a kiss when they had to separate. Yuuri was more than happy to give it to him.

**Author's Note:**

> [Visit me on Tumblr. I take requests, talk headcanons and generally geek out over everything.](https://geekmom13.tumblr.com/)


End file.
